Water Gremlin had been making fishing sinkers since 1949, but the brand had gone quiet. Market share was slipping. People still loved the sinkers they grew up with, but they were being overtaken by flashier, newer ones.

Water Gremlin needed to remind people they still mattered. But they didn’t need a new brand. They needed to rediscover the one they already had.

Starting with identity.

Before anything was redesigned or rewritten, we dug into what made Water Gremlin genuinely special. Not just the product and its history. The brand had something most companies would kill for: a mascot with real personality potential, sitting dormant in the logo. The kind of character that could make a grown fisherman smile and a kid beg their parent to pick the one with the funny guy on the package.

Bringing the identity to life.

With that clarity established, we turned the gremlin into the company’s full-time spokesperson, giving him a slightly snarky, irreverent personality that matched the brand’s heritage while appealing to a modern audience. Not trying to be something new. Being more fully what Water Gremlin had always been.

From there, the work spread across everything—a redesigned website and packaging, print and digital ad campaigns, in-store signage, and a full suite of marketing materials. The sales team finally had tools they were proud to put in front of buyers. And the gremlin had a voice worth listening to.

The result.

After years of stagnant growth, Water Gremlin came back to life. The fresh brand and personality reconnected the company with its audience, gave the sales team what they needed to expand into new stores and markets, and took the marketing to a level the company hadn’t seen in years.

Sometimes the best brand work isn’t creating something new. It’s finding what was already there—and finally letting it out.